customdecks67

I am buying a 2003 3500 diesel dually with 57,000 miles for 25,400.00.I want to know from other owners if this monster truck will hold up to pulling trailors day in and day out.I am trading in a 97 chevy Tahoe that has to me been the best Truck/Suv I have ever owned.This girl has 170,000 miles and put 90,000 on it in 22 months.I love the truck even that my employees call it a family wagon.My business partner has a 07 dodge and it just doesnt have half the performance the tahoe does.So guys will I get the same or better performance out of the diesel.The tahoe only failure was a water pump and a broken passenger mirror.Please give me the scoop I miss my tahoe already. customdecks67@aol.com

ZX1100F1

You'll find that most modern light duty diesel engines (Cummins, Power Stroke and Duramax) to all be great engines with the exception of many of the 6.0L Power Strokes which were well known to be problematic and the reason that they were so short lived.

When towing a heavy trailer the weakest link is normally the transmission and this is where the GM really has the advantage with the Allison.[/b]

jmack91z28

He'spretty much right aboutall of them being the same.But I hate to say it, being a big chevy fan, but the dodge with the cummins diesel has the best power really. An in-line 6 diesel will always produce more torque than any v-8 motor could ever. The dodge gets the best mpg as well, which definatly has a factor as well. Ford has always had a weak driveline behind those diesels. TheAdams International diesels are good motors though, and so are the Izuzu's in the Chevys. They really are all about the same, mostly. And of course the Chevy looks best. We have an 04 dodge 2500 at work with the cummins, and my only complain is the tranny is a little weak, and so is the rear-end. Chevy offers the Allison like dave said, which is about bulletproof, and they make a good rear-end with the locker. Also, if your one of those guys who likes to "customize" your truck and what-not, there's really more in the aftermarket for Dodge's with a diesel than anything else. I'd still buy the chevy though haha.

petrou

just for the record, i hate duramaxes. but like the other gentleman have said, you will get get better performance than the tahoe, especially in the fuel econmony department, the duramax is a very well designed engine for economy, especiallywith towing.one thing i would lean away from is try not to be another diesel guy who knows everything about diesels and think you can do anything, unless of course you have gone to school orworkon diesels day in and out. exhaust and intake will do just fine for what your doing, you could use a small chip and be just fine, do get guages to watch egt and boost pressures. the reason i say this is cuz you want reliability and longevity. each engine is designed to run for a certain amount of time, aka horsepower hours, you add more power you lose hours. i would still try to shoot for a newer cummins, dont get me wrong i love chevy's and would love to see every car in the world a chevy, but in this case i would look for engine manufacturer not brand of truck. but still a very good buy and find, i would go for it.

bad2006z71

i have to disagree with the guy above. i feel the duramax is a damn good motor. (cummins are good as well)
my uncle just sold his 2003 lt ext cab with the duramax with over 150K miles on it with no trouble. the duramax coupled with the allison is a great combination. power was really good, beating out same year model cummins and powerstrokes. mileage wasnt bad either about 19-21 stock.

the only problem i had with it was 2 years later, they gave it more power
the only thing he wanted was a solid front axle on it. said it would be stronger than the IFS but would have rode worse. i dont know. i liked it.

good luck on your decision. diesel still usually gets better mpg's but it is around $.55 higher around here.

jmack91z28

Petrou is exactly right about modifying diesels. I've got two good friends who are good diesel mechanics, one who works for cummins and the other for adams international. They both will tell you the same thing about performance upgrades for diesels too. A lot of people make mistakes and screw them up, and diesels aren't exactly cheap to fix either. Just cause it billows out black smoke from the "custom" smoke stacks, doesn't mean it's exactly good.

I seriously doubt that the 03 duramax would beat out an 03 cummins. I'd have to see it with my own two eyes to belive that. I'm not saying the Izuzu's are bad either, cause your right, they are damn good motors, I just don't see it being better than the cummins motor.

But the main thing here is that the Ford's are last, and that's all that really matters haha.

bad2006z71

i think cummins is coming out with a 6.8 for dodge so that should be a monster.
i have nothing against the cummins itself just never been a big dodge fan. the motor is excellent. but i think the duramax would last a good long time. i know the 7.3 powerstroke was good, but have heard a lot of negatives about the 6.0 powerstroke.

anyways the guy is getting one heck of a truck

jmack91z28

Oh yea, theres no doubt that the duramax will last a long time, that'll be the least of the worries. And yea I saw dodge is coming out with a bigger diesel, something like a 6.8 or 6.9 or something.